The three men have been charged with a brutal robbery of a Lululemon store in Georgia
Three men face multiple robbery charges after shocking video footage showed a brazen $7,000 theft at an Atlanta Lululemon store that led to two store employees being fired for confronting the masked thieves.
Quintavious Gooch, 19, Braylon Shivers, 20, and Bayo Allen, 19, were arrested following the April 24 incident and are currently behind bars at the Fayette County Jail.
A fourth man, Nicholas Lynch, 26, was arrested at the time. Fox5 Atlanta reported, but is no longer in custody, said the prison website.
Shocking video showed the thieves ransacking the Peachtree Corners store — which has seen a spate of robberies recently — grabbing armfuls of the expensive sportswear.
Quintavious Gooch, 19, Braylon Shivers, 20, and Bayo Allen, 19, remain in custody after a video showed a $7,000 robbery at a Lululemon store in Atlanta’s Peachtree Corners
Quintavious Gooch, 19, is charged with theft by shoplifting, theft by receiving stolen property
Braylon Shivers, 20, is charged with theft by shoplifting, theft by receiving stolen property and possession of marijuana
Bayo Allen, 19, is charged with theft by shoplifting and theft by receiving stolen property
The video of the brutal robbery was posted to Facebook last week by Jason Ferguson, the husband of former assistant manager Jennifer Ferguson, who both claim she was fired from her job at the store for calling the police about the thieves.
“This was the fifth (maybe close to tenth) time this group had robbed the store without Lululemon taking action to curb the robberies and protect the employees,” Jason Ferguson ranted in his post.
But Lululemon has a policy of not interfering with robberies for the safety of their employees, the company states in its handbook.
Rachel Rogers, 23, who worked as a sales associate, recorded the latest robbery and said the store has been a victim of the same group of thieves for weeks.
They said the thieves would consistently strike about an hour before closing, when they would snatch as much merchandise as possible from the racks and tables closest to the door, then flee to their getaway car.
Police posted a photo of the inside of the SUV that was filled with stolen Lululemon goods
Four men were arrested at the scene of the arrest on April 26
Police tracked down the red Subaru SUV despite the suspects changing the license plate number
A Lululemon spokesperson told investigators that four men, wearing the same clothes, were responsible for another robbery of a Lululemon store in the Atlanta metropolitan area the same week. It is unclear whether the suspects have been charged with both robberies.
“No, no, no, you can march back out,” Ferguson is heard yelling during the latest heist on a masked thief who is chasing leggings off a shop window while his accomplice holds the door open for him. Another thief swoops in and grabs more clothes.
Ferguson, a mother of four, then exclaims, “Seriously. Out! Out!’
‘Chill, b****, shut up’, you hear one of the thieves say to her.
The employees followed the thieves outside, where they stacked the goods in their getaway car.
They did not attempt to physically stop the thieves, instead calling Gwinnett Police, who were able to track down the red Subaru SUV despite the suspects changing the license plate during their escape.
But Ferguson and Rogers claim they were released because they tried to stop them and “violated the employee handbook policy” not to interfere in a robbery.
Jennifer Ferguson (pictured) and Rachel Rogers were reportedly released for trying to stop the thieves and ‘violating the employee handbook policy’ not to interfere in a robbery
Rachel Rogers said the reason she was fired wasn’t clear, other than she was told there was a ‘no tolerance policy’
Shocking footage shows masked robbers taking merchandise from front displays of Lululemon store in Atlanta before running to their getaway car
A Lululemon spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our employees and guests is always Lululemon’s top priority, and we have policies and protocols in place to maintain a safe environment.”
It added: ‘We take theft and vandalism very seriously and our focus is currently on supporting our educators, and we continue to work with local partners and law enforcement.’
The women claim the company also has a policy of reporting robberies internally rather than alerting authorities — but the employee handbook asks staff to call 911 immediately after the suspects leave the store.
Jennifer said, “We’re not supposed to get in the way. You’re paving the way for whatever they’re about to do.
And then, when it’s over, you scan a QR code. And that’s that. We’ve been told not to put it in notes because that might put other people off. We can’t call the police, we can’t really talk about it.’
She and Rogers said they were fired for violating the policy and were told there is a “zero tolerance policy.”
‘It wasn’t very clear. They gave no specific reasoning beyond just saying they have a “no-tolerance policy,” Rogers said.
And Jennifer said the same thing, adding, “They said I was fired immediately with no severance pay because they have a zero-tolerance policy.”
Her husband added that Gwinnett police arrived quickly after being notified of the robbery and that four officers gave statements expressing concern that they had never been informed of the previous thefts.
Their report, he said, led to the suspects being arrested the next day when they attempted to steal from another Lululemon store in Peachtree City.
It comes as stores in the US are experiencing a surge in crime and some major retailers have been forced to close stores due to millions of dollars in losses as rampant theft plagues businesses.
The incident happened at the Lululemon store in Peachtree Corners
Lululemon has a policy of not interfering with robberies for the safety of their employees
Shoplifting has reached alarming levels and major retailers, including Target, Macy’s and Best Buy, are now making good on the threats to chain stores if petty crime is not reduced.
By 2021, retailers lost a total of $94.5 billion to shrink, a term used to describe theft and other forms of inventory loss. And the number of organized retail crime incidents rose 26.5 percent in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey.
Brutal daylight robberies and self-checkouts have also made it easier for people to walk out without paying for stuff.
Employees at a San Francisco Target store say they get stolen every 10 minutes.
Employees say they saw people actively “scooping” goods into bags before leaving.
Goods, including trays of lipstick and nail polish, are cleared by shoplifters on a daily basis.